The following post is excerpted from my article No Point: The Case Against Competition in the Martial Arts, which was published in the January 2001 issue of Taekwondo Times magazine.
“For some, they are an antiquated training method with little practical value for the contemporary martial artist. To others, they are the heart and soul of an art. What are they? Forms.” [1] The exact origins of martial arts forms is usually a topic of debate, but in the case of Okinawan Karate styles it’s believed that kata originated “when Japan occupied and controlled most of Okinawa’s territories in 1609, the samuari took away the Okinawans’ weapons. As a result, the Okinawans had to find another way to protect themselves.” [2] Since the Japanese also forbade training in the fighting arts, the Okinawans devised ways to practice self-defense that, on first glance, would resemble harmless exercise or dance.
Kata, tul, hyung, or whatever a martial art calls them according to their traditions and country of origin are the cornerstone of martial arts training. Most forms have some sort of historical or cultural significance to the name. For example, the Taekwon-Do form “Yul-Gok is the pseudonym of the great philosopher and scholar Yi I (1536-1584) nicknamed the ‘Confucius of Korea.’ The 38 movements of this pattern refer to his birthplace on the 38` latitude and the diagram [of the pattern] (~) represents scholar.” [3]
Clearly, these forms mean much more than just punches and kicks. “If you don’t learn any history, you will have no grasp of the concept of your martial art.” [4] To reinforce this point, I have heard Taekwon-Do Grandmaster Sun Duk Choi state that one cannot train in Taekwon-Do without also studying Korean history. Furthermore, forms are “the most vital method of transmitting or learning a skill in the budo.” [5] It is this type of training that is absent when students are lead to believe that their forms are “good” or “bad” based on the subjective opinions of others during one particular performance. Forms get reduced to the superficial, how they look, instead of what really matters.
Even tournament competitor Jon Valera said that “forms are supposed to be a fight scene.” [6] However, it is inconceivable that any of the carefully rehearsed flying and spinning kicks that made him successful in a tournament would be successful in a street fight, “a synonym for absolute chaos.” [7]
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[1] Nardi, Thomas J. “Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em.” Martial Arts Training. July, 1998: 20.
[2] Blumenthal, Paris. “Traditionalism is Here to Stay.” Martial Arts Training. May 1998: 37.
[3] International on-Do Federation. “The Interpretation of Patterns.” http://www.itf-taekwondo.com. 1999.
[4] Barber, Clayton. “Brain Washing, Nonsense and Impracticalities.” Martial Arts Training. November, 1998: 37.
[5] Lowry, Dave. “The Three Basic Concepts of ‘The Warrior Ways’.” Black Belt. July, 1997: 22.
[6] Wordsworth, Byron. “Unbeatable Forms.” Martial Arts Training. March, 1998: 6-12.
[7] Vargo, Keith. “The Myth of Street Fighting.” Black Belt. January, 1999: 26.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Monday, July 10, 2006
The Concept of Kiai
The January 2001 issue of Taekwondo Times magazine included an article I wrote titled No Point: The Case Against Competition in the Martial Arts. Over the next few weeks, I will publish edited portions of this article because I'm thinking about these topics often.
Please forgive the pervasive reference to Japanese and karate. Most of my references were written from the perspective of a karate practitioner and it helped the article's flow to stick with it.
In tournament competition there are often competitors “whose voiced kiai sounds like the squawking of a jungle bird with its tail feathers caught in a trash compactor.” [1] This type of banshee-like screaming does not accurately depict the true meaning of kiai. While the word “kiai” (pronounced key-eye) consists of the Japanese characters “ki”, meaning “energy”, and “ai” meaning “meeting” or “joining”, a definition of kiai to mean “a joining of energy” is not entirely accurate. Kiai (or “kiyap” in Korean) can be thought of as one’s entire mental state while focused during an action. “A true kiai can be completely without sound; this is an idea that more advanced karateka should consider carefully.” [1]
Many martial arts instructors insist on hearing students’ kiai, and though they might get a yell, they are probably not getting a kiai. This attitude is especially pervasive in children’s classes where the goal doesn’t seem to be performing effective techniques, but the volume at which the child can yell while performing them. More often than not, in these cases, the kids begin to focus more on the yell than the technique the kiai is supposed to reinforce
This attitude extends further when considering that many tournament forms are nothing more than a series of yells without any of the focus to back it up. This is not to say that tournament competitors are not focused, clearly they are. However their focus is not on the effectiveness of their technique, rather it is on how they look in performance of it. Christine Bannon-Rodrigues suggests that competitors “don’t forget to kiai. It not only draws attention to you, it makes your attack look stronger than your opponent’s.” [2] This reinforces the statement that competitors worry more about how they look than the actual quality of their technique.
For a kiai to be effective it must originate from the student’s ki and be timed properly as to induce a moment of distraction in their opponent. A series of high-pitched squawks will not accomplish this goal, and is more likely to interfere with the student’s breathing rather than the opponent’s concentration.
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[1] Lowry, Dave. “The Baffling Concept of Kiai.” Black Belt. January, 1999: 22.
[2] Banon-Rodrigues, Christine. “Popularity Doesn’t Count.” Martial Arts Training. May, 1996: 24.
Please forgive the pervasive reference to Japanese and karate. Most of my references were written from the perspective of a karate practitioner and it helped the article's flow to stick with it.
In tournament competition there are often competitors “whose voiced kiai sounds like the squawking of a jungle bird with its tail feathers caught in a trash compactor.” [1] This type of banshee-like screaming does not accurately depict the true meaning of kiai. While the word “kiai” (pronounced key-eye) consists of the Japanese characters “ki”, meaning “energy”, and “ai” meaning “meeting” or “joining”, a definition of kiai to mean “a joining of energy” is not entirely accurate. Kiai (or “kiyap” in Korean) can be thought of as one’s entire mental state while focused during an action. “A true kiai can be completely without sound; this is an idea that more advanced karateka should consider carefully.” [1]
Many martial arts instructors insist on hearing students’ kiai, and though they might get a yell, they are probably not getting a kiai. This attitude is especially pervasive in children’s classes where the goal doesn’t seem to be performing effective techniques, but the volume at which the child can yell while performing them. More often than not, in these cases, the kids begin to focus more on the yell than the technique the kiai is supposed to reinforce
This attitude extends further when considering that many tournament forms are nothing more than a series of yells without any of the focus to back it up. This is not to say that tournament competitors are not focused, clearly they are. However their focus is not on the effectiveness of their technique, rather it is on how they look in performance of it. Christine Bannon-Rodrigues suggests that competitors “don’t forget to kiai. It not only draws attention to you, it makes your attack look stronger than your opponent’s.” [2] This reinforces the statement that competitors worry more about how they look than the actual quality of their technique.
For a kiai to be effective it must originate from the student’s ki and be timed properly as to induce a moment of distraction in their opponent. A series of high-pitched squawks will not accomplish this goal, and is more likely to interfere with the student’s breathing rather than the opponent’s concentration.
---------------------
[1] Lowry, Dave. “The Baffling Concept of Kiai.” Black Belt. January, 1999: 22.
[2] Banon-Rodrigues, Christine. “Popularity Doesn’t Count.” Martial Arts Training. May, 1996: 24.
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